U.S. Women's World Cup Quotes - Oct. 10, 2003

NewsOct 11, 2003

U.S. Head Coach April Heinrichs

On the team’s motivation going into the third place match…“I think it’s a matter of wanting to walk off the field after winning the game. It’s a matter of being able to walk off the field and know we played a great World Cup. If we win tomorrow, then we feel great about having played in all six matches and got unlucky in one. We want to leave the field feeling good. No one wants to leave a World Cup having lost that last game. They want to walk off the field feeling good about the win.”

On if they need to make a statement against Canada…“I don’t feel like we have to make a statement. If it was like it used to be where there wasn’t a third place game, then we would be leaving this tournament in third or fourth place. It’s nice to be able to finish this tournament. I was there in 1995 when we lost and there was obviously the same disappointment. You want to bring closure to this tournament and the best way to do that is to hold our heads high.”

On what she’s learned during the World Cup…“I don’t get the chance to step away from the game like the media, but when I go home I’ll get some perspective. I think what we’ve learned watching this World Cup is that attacking soccer prevails, such as Germany and Sweden which have good attack-orientated soccer.”

Forward Mia Hamm

On the game against Canada…“What we look at now is that you can take everything you’ve invested in these last nine months, the emotion you’ve had from last Sunday, the pride you have for your teammates and put it towards this game. This is our opportunity to go out and play as hard as we can. We are going to have to play that way to beat Canada."

On if it’s important to win the third place match…“It’s the World Cup. You’re on a World Cup team, you’re professional and that’s the way you play. For some of us, like me, I won’t be able to do it again. I won’t get to represent the U.S. in a World Cup again. I owe it to all those people, ever since I was I don’t know how old, to do that.”

Joy Fawcett

On the match against Canada…“We have to play our best if we want to win. We can’t come out and just hope it is going to happen. Canada is getting better. They have a new coach who is developing players and they are looking good.”

On the U.S. game plan…“Our goal is to play well and expose their weaknesses and find their holes. I think we need have good flank play, get around the back, down the sidelines to create chances and finish them.”